


Journeys End in Lovers Meeting

by SweetSorcery



Series: Journey's End [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon, Angst, Bath Sex, Birthday, Crying, First Time, Friendship, Healing, Homesickness, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Male Slash, Memories, Reunions, Romance, Separations, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-29
Updated: 2013-06-29
Packaged: 2017-12-16 13:35:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/862613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetSorcery/pseuds/SweetSorcery
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the conclusion of his punishment for using a Time Turner, Harry is anxious about the future - will it include Cedric?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Journeys End in Lovers Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: All canon referred to within belongs to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books, Raincoast Books, Warner Bros. Inc., and possibly others. Non-canon bits were created for non-profit, non-infringement entertainment.
> 
> Archiving: Nowhere except here, and not in translated form either.
> 
> Author's Notes: My most sincere apologies to everyone who's read the first three stories of this series and has been made to wait for the conclusion even longer than Harry and Cedric! I hope very much that you will forgive me and find this a suitable finish.
> 
> More Notes: Harry turns 17 in this story. If you or your lawgivers consider that underage for explicitness, please skip.

Harry was sitting on the train to Hogsmeade, trembling like a leaf. He had managed to talk the guards into releasing him in the morning, rather than after lunch, because he was determined to get to Hogwarts before anyone could consider boarding a train to Torgate to get him. He wanted all that to remain in the past now, and he didn't want them to see the stark, gloomy place at all. It was over, finally. Two years that had seemed like twenty lay behind him.

Sometimes during those two years, he had found himself plotting revenge on Fudge for doing this to him. But every time his thoughts grew bleak and hateful like that, he would think of Cedric, and how he could do nothing to jeopardise getting back to him. Though if Fudge had hoped that Harry would come around to thinking he'd made a mistake using the Time Turner, he couldn't have been more wrong. What had made the past two years bearable had been the monthly owls from Cedric with footnotes from Ron and Hermione, and he knew he could never have done anything different. He'd do it all again just the same, though if he had to do it again, he would cover his tracks better. But it had all been worthwhile. Cedric was alive. And Harry was on his way back to Hogwarts. To Cedric.

His hand was pushed down inside his bag, fingering the soft plush of the talking muggle teddy bear Cedric had sent him for his fifteenth birthday. Cedric had enchanted it, of course. He smiled at the memory of unwrapping it, and of how his heart had leapt when he'd squeezed its tummy and it had croaked, "Cedric loves you!"

That memory brought back the memory of his sixteenth birthday, and Harry raised his hand to draw the silver necklace from inside his T-Shirt. He looked down and snapped open the classically carved locket. Inside was a wizarding photo of Cedric blowing him a kiss; he looked sad in the photo - it had been taken months after Harry had been sent away.

Harry knew what he wanted today, for his 17th birthday. He looked at the photo and sighed.

The Scottish landscape slipped past outside the train windows, but not nearly fast enough for Harry's liking. The sun was still rising, it was not yet noon, and he knew that any moment, the train would wind around the last corner before the Black Lake came into view, and sunlight would reflect off the lake's surface and take his breath away.

Harry lowered the window of his compartment and stuck his nose outside, sucking in a lungful of air. Fresh air had been a rare commodity inside the dank walls of the English West Country prison school, and Harry was sure he had never before been able to distinguish all the different scents which made up the Scottish air - lingering rain that was never far away, the warmth of peat and moss, and a hint of sweet heather. 

He listened to the clanking of the train on its tracks and smiled. He'd missed all of this, even if he hadn't realised just how much until now, because he'd been too busy missing Cedric and his friends. He knew that Ron and Hermione would make it to Hogwarts later that day. It was the school holidays, of course, but Harry refused to go anywhere but there, because Cedric was at Hogwarts. Cedric’s relationship with his father had cooled so much on account of Harry that Cedric had taken up residence at the school all year round. Harry no longer wished to go to the Dursleys, nor would there be any point; after his extended absence, he was no longer protected there by blood, and besides - he was of age in the wizarding world as of today. Dumbledore had tirelessly tried to get him released on account of the protection spell, but without success. Fudge had argued that he was as safe in prison as he could be anywhere.

A flash of sunlight struck the side of the train, a few compartments ahead of Harry as it wound around a bend, and Harry's eyes were drawn ahead. And there it was: the lake - black and still, a pool of serenity in the wilderness of the Scottish countryside.

Harry smiled and took a deep breath, certain he could not only smell but taste the fresh water on his lips. There was something comforting in knowing that nature continued on exactly the same while you weren't there. It made time, and waiting, and loneliness, seem so much less real in hindsight.

Within half an hour, he would be seeing Cedric. His heart was pounding so hard, it made him dizzy; he had to sit down. He had run through that moment in his mind, in his dreams, hundreds of times. He had lived for that alone during the past two years. He had worried that the moment might never come, that something else would go wrong, that… that Cedric might stop loving him.

But the letters remained regular - one a month, which was all they were allowed. They continued to lighten his heart. They continued to assure him of how much Cedric loved him and missed him and couldn't wait to see him again. And eventually, Harry decided that he would go mad if he continued to worry that maybe, Cedric was waiting to say goodbye until after his ordeal was over, and decided to simply trust in Cedric being Cedric.

With a loud whistle and a clatter, the carriages slowed down and the train rolled into the station. Harry had arrived. The wait was nearly over.

* * *

Cedric was frantic. He knew Dumbledore had given him every menial task the man could find to keep him busy, making each and every one of them sound more urgent than the next. Cedric was beyond caring. He wanted nothing more than to get to Hogsmeade, because he had no intention of missing this particular train. Harry was waiting at Torgate, and he was waiting for him.

When he finally managed to convince the headmaster that the lesson plan for the new first years' Transfiguration classes could really wait until closer to the end of the holidays, it was nearly lunchtime, and he was running dreadfully late, cursing Dumbledore as he raced through the castle. It didn't help that the old coot seemed to be keeping something from Cedric, which only infuriated him further.

He ran through the corridors, out the front doors, and down the path towards Hogsmeade, eyes fixed on the gravel, bumping into several people with muttered apologies. Finally, he raised his eyes to avoid further accidents and stopped dead. And saw why Dumbledore had been so determined to make him miss the train.

Less than fifty yards away from him stood Harry. His Harry - taller, thinner and paler, carrying a single suitcase and wearing ill-fitting clothes. He looked lost and unsure and nervous, and Cedric had never seen anything more beautiful in his life. He started running, stumbling on the gravel and nearly falling over, a huge smile splitting his face.

And then Harry, who'd been staring at him with wide eyes and parted lips, dropped his case and started running as well. And it seemed only a moment, but a small eternity, before they flew into each other's arms, with Cedric lifting Harry effortlessly off the ground, his arms so tight around him that he feared to crush him.

But Harry didn't mind. Not at all. He sobbed against Cedric's neck and clung to him, inhaling him more eagerly than he had breathed the fresh air minutes earlier.

Cedric couldn't speak. He felt his own tears start to flow, wetting Harry's face and hair as he nuzzled against him, his lips brushing soft, too pale skin, feeling a rapid pulse at Harry's temple which still matched the rhythm of his own like clockwork. "Harry," he whispered at last.

Harry whimpered, reluctantly allowing Cedric to set him back on his feet, staring up at him while Cedric cupped his face. He still had to look up, but not as far up. He was smiling and sobbing at once while Cedric's warm eyes caressed his face, his hands stroking his cheeks, chasing away two years’ worth of loneliness and chill as if they had been nothing more than a bad dream. "I'm home," he croaked. He had to say it out loud to make it real. And so that if it was merely a dream, Dream-Cedric would correct him.

But Cedric smiled and said, "Welcome home!" And then he took him in his arms again and began devouring his mouth like a starving man. And they both felt that time had put no distance at all between them.

Harry hung on, crying and happy and feeling lighter than he had in two years, while Cedric learned him all over again, convinced him that nothing had changed, neither the warm, cherry taste of his mouth nor his passion for Harry. If there were people around them, possibly giggling, smirking or gasping at the display, they were blissfully unaware of it.

When their lips finally disconnected for breath, Cedric still did not release him, holding him close and resting his cheek against Harry's temple. "Oh, Harry… my Harry."

"You're still here," Harry managed to whisper. "You waited."

Cedric laughed softly. "As if I would go anywhere without you." He looked into Harry's eyes. "You didn't actually think I would, did you?" When Harry half-smiled, half-cringed, he gave him an encouraging smile. "Don't cry anymore, sweetheart. Never again." He swiped away the tears from Harry's cheeks with his thumbs.

"Can't seem to stop." Harry was smiling and sobbing at once. "Sorry."

"Hush. You will." Cedric cupped his face. "I'll just have to love you until you can't even remember the taste of tears."

Harry shivered. "Yes, please."

Cedric's eyes darkened. "Look at you. You're so grown up."

"I am." Harry's heart was racing at the expression in Cedric's eyes. "I hurried, just for you."

Cedric smirked. "We have a lot of lost time to make up."

"Then let's not waste any more," Harry pleaded, surprising them both. The spark of desire in Cedric's eyes had him trembling.

" _Harry!_ " someone cried in a voice which hadn't been that croaky and wobbly since second year, and both of them swore softly under their breaths, then chuckled.

Two sets of feet were running towards them, and when Cedric reluctantly allowed Harry to face his approaching friends, he saw a blur of red as Ron Weasley tackled his friend, before immediately pulling back and grinning at him bashfully. "Bloody hell, Harry, I nearly knocked you down. You're thin as a rake!"

"That's not what he wants to hear right now, Ron!" Hermione chided, then hugged Harry as well. "Oh Harry, we missed you! Did you get all the lessons and books? How are you? Did they treat you well? You're not ill, are you? What--"

"Give the man some breathing space, Hermione," Ron told her, and amazingly, she backed down.

Harry raised a brow. This was certainly an interesting change - Ron holding his own against Hermione. "Yes. Fine now. Okay. And no, I'm not." He laughed. "And the food there was dreadful, which is why I'm swimming in these," he said, tugging at his baggy clothes. There was no need to say out loud that the main reason he was so thin had been the lack of Cedric, not the lack of decent grub.

"We'll get you out of those as soon as possible," Cedric said unthinkingly, which had both him and Harry blushing, Hermione giggling and Ron roaring with laughter.

"Merlin, Harry. It's so good to have you back!" Ron was beaming. "Now our blasted Assistant Transfiguration Teacher can finally stop moping about." He quirked a cheeky grin at Cedric.

Harry smiled at Cedric, holding his hands. "There'll be no more moping."

"No," Cedric agreed, smiling back at him.

They were so fixated on each other, they barely heard Ron's _Blimey_ or Hermione's suggestion that as Harry's birthday party wasn't scheduled until the afternoon, they should maybe find a less public spot for the time being.

Cedric and Harry exchanged a look, and were about to tell her that it was a great idea, when a set of brightly coloured robes billowed in the middle distance, accompanied by Dumbledore’s shout of, “Welcome home, Harry!”

Cedric cursed under his breath, and as much as Harry agreed with the sentiment, he couldn’t help but smile. It was good to see Dumbledore again.

* * *

As it turned out, Harry’s party had been rescheduled along with his train journey. Dumbledore had known about Harry’s plans, but had apparently decided there was no need to let Harry in on his. 

Ron shrugged when Harry asked whether he’d been told. “Mate, I thought it was this afternoon. If you ask me, the man’s gone well past balmy if he can’t guess cake and pumpkin juice are _not_ what you want most just now.”

Hermione jabbed him in the ribs to silence him. The four of them were following the headmaster towards the castle and around the West Wing.

Cedric’s arm was around Harry’s shoulder and he murmured, “Just for this, I’m teaching the next lot of first years all I know about Dark Arts.”

Harry laughed. “We’ll have some cake and disappear.”

And then they saw it – a vast banquet table had been set up on the lawn, with garlands floating in the air, house elves running to and fro, and the table groaning under enough food to make a Weasley Christmas seem Spartan. 

Most of Gryffindor house and many from other houses – both from Harry’s year and younger, as well as a few students who had already left, such as Oliver Wood, were assembled, and all of them greeted him with smiles and hugs. There was a stack of gifts piled high near the table, and Harry couldn’t help it, he broke into a huge grin. When he turned to check whether Cedric was still glaring daggers at Dumbledore, he instead found him looking at him with a soft smile and the sweetest expression.

He would enjoy his party, Harry thought, but it would be the shortest birthday party in history.

* * *

It took a good two hours for them to extract themselves from their friends, and in truth, they probably only managed it because Cedric cited Harry’s obvious exhaustion and tiredness, which Harry confirmed by looking as pitiful as he could manage, considering he was bursting with happiness.

"Where are your rooms?" Harry asked when Cedric took his hand and started towards the stairs. He laughed when he realised Cedric was pulling him along faster with each step. Ron and Hermione, beaming from ear to ear, had said their goodbyes until the next day.

"Hufflepuff Tower, but that's not where we're going right now."

"Oh." Harry didn't mean to sound disappointed, but he must have done, because Cedric grinned back at him over his shoulder and reassured him.

"Don’t worry, you'll like what I have in mind." He squeezed his hand.

Harry grinned back. "I'm sure I will." In a matter of minutes, they reached a certain door on the fifth floor, and Harry realised where they were.

"Rubber duck," Cedric said, and the door opened.

Harry laughed, and a moment later found himself inside the Prefect's bathroom, pressed against the wall with his hands raised at his sides and Cedric gazing down at him heatedly.

"Are you wondering why we're here?"

"Sort of." Harry couldn't stop grinning, even while his heart was thumping with anticipation.

Cedric smiled. "This is where I first realised I was falling for you. After you told me about the dragons--" He halted suddenly, wondering whether it was a good idea to bring up the Triwizard Tournament at all.

"Yes?" Harry prompted, still smiling. He understood Cedric's hesitation, but it was fine now. Everything was.

Cedric looked relieved. "I came here a lot to relax. I was as tight as a drum back then. But somehow, whenever I was alone for even a few minutes, I saw you in front of me. I kept remembering the way you'd blushed when you pulled me aside to tell me about the first task. And I wondered why, and it occurred to me that maybe you fancied me. And the idea gave me such a jolt - a good jolt!"

Harry was beaming.

"Of course, after the first task, that kiss… that night we spend together… holding you in my arms... I couldn't think about anything else at all. I was sitting in the bath here with that stupid egg - can't remember who gave me the clue about it - but I was sitting in the hot water and trying to concentrate on figuring it out, but I kept seeing your eyes and forgetting all about the egg."

Harry chuckled. "Myrtle told me you took ages to figure the egg out. I couldn't understand why. You're much smarter than me."

"No I'm not," Cedric denied. He whispered a quick spell and the vast tub began to fill, scented oil pouring into it from one of the taps.

"I wish I'd known all that," Harry said.

Cedric grinned. "I can't tell you how hard it was to keep from sneaking up to see if you were here with that egg. In there." He motioned with his head towards the bath, behind him. When he looked back at Harry, his eyes were on fire.

Harry gulped. "And I really wish you had sneaked up here."

"You were too young," Cedric told him. "And I felt like a creep." He laughed self-deprecatingly. "I was jealous of Moaning Myrtle, being able to come and go in here as she pleased."

"Yeah, she did hang around while I was here."

"Of course she did." Cedric's eyes caressed Harry's face. "The more I told myself I couldn't touch you, the more I wanted to." He licked his lips, and Harry followed the motion hungrily. "I don't know how I managed to get through that tournament, or school for that matter, that year."

Harry smirked. "Are you going to stop talking and get back to kissing me soon?"

Cedric laughed. "You mean you didn't miss my talking?"

"I missed everything about you," Harry told him, no longer smiling. "I thought I'd go mad without you. I would have done, without your letters. I read each one so many times, they're falling to pieces."

"You don't need them anymore," Cedric simply said, and then he was kissing Harry. 

Harry moaned into his mouth, his hands clutching at Cedric's back, holding him close enough to feel sure he'd never have to let go again.

"Oh Harry," Cedric gasped. "I need you so much." He kissed him again, his hips holding him against the door, his hands pushing at Harry's loose T-Shirt, shifting it across collarbones and tight, sensitive nipples, causing groans of pleasure to spill into his mouth.

"Need you too," Harry moaned. "Now!"

"Yes," Cedric pulled the T-Shirt over Harry's head and flung it away, leaving his hair mussed and his too pale, too thin torso bare. His heart clenched, and he lowered his head, licking at Harry's neck while caressing his chest and sides, his hands warm and reassuring on touch-starved skin, his tongue instilling new life via Harry's pulse point. "I'll take such good care of you, Harry," he murmured against shivering skin. "I'll never stop."

"Cedric..." Harry's knees gave in and he slumped against the door, but Cedric's hands kept him from falling down. Somehow, he managed to not only keep Harry on his feet but peel off his clothes as well. Once all but Harry’s boxers were on the tiles next to them, he looked into his eyes, both hands on Harry’s waist, thumbs hooked behind cotton.

Harry licked his lips, his cheeks flushed and his eyes dark. “You’re still dressed,” he managed to croak.

Cedric smiled. “Feel free to change that.” He stopped touching Harry, and waited.

Harry didn’t waste any time. He fumbled with Cedric’s shirt buttons, the single button and zip of his trousers, and pushed at the clothes so eagerly that Cedric needed to help to get anything done. When Harry finally managed to get him down to boxers as well, he reached for them with trembling hands, and Cedric helped him there too.

Harry made a soft sound in the back of his throat when his right hand finally rested on Cedric’s hard cock, and Cedric swayed a little. Looking up, Harry saw that his eyes kept fluttering shut, and he curled his hand around him and tightened it, but Cedric covered it.

“Not yet, you first.”

Harry grumbled a protest, which turned into a groan when Cedric reached down and peeled off his boxers, and fell to his knees in front of Harry at the same time as the warm, humid air hit his flesh.

At first Cedric merely nuzzled his cheek against his hardness, kissing the soft skin at the juncture of thigh and hip. But gradually his lips moved closer, kissing and nibbling his way down the length at last, supporting Harry’s trembling body with his hands on his buttocks, drawing his hips forward until his mouth finally closed over the tip just before the first salty drops hit his tongue.

Harry mewled, his fingers alternately tangling in Cedric’s hair and trying to get a grip on his shoulders. He tried to speak but couldn’t, so much sensation after such a long, lonely wait too much. He came in Cedric’s mouth within an embarrassingly short time, whimpering and twitching, his weakened body barely able to keep upright.

He slumped just as Cedric rose, lifting him in the process, and he wrapped his legs around him and let himself be carried across the tiles and to the edge of the tub. Cedric carried him down the steps and into the warm, soothing water, and both of them sighed with pleasure when it enveloped them.

“Sorry I’m so weak,” Harry murmured against the side of Cedric’s neck. “And so scrawny.” 

Cedric had no quibble with Harry's body, beyond a helpless anger that he should have been as unhappy as to grow so thin. He met his eyes before he sat down with Harry on his lap and reassured him, "I love you, Harry. I love you so much. And you’re completely perfect."

Harry smiled. It was exactly what he needed to hear. He rewarded Cedric with a kiss on the tip of his nose, their eyes met heatedly, and he kissed his lips. When Cedric’s tongue slid into his mouth, he sucked on it eagerly, and Cedric groaned deep in his throat. Harry felt him twitching between his parted thighs, and he sucked harder.

Cedric’s grip around him tightened, and he held Harry close, so close, that when Harry snaked his hand down between them, there was hardly enough room for it.

“Harry, I need you. I need to take you. Do you think...” Cedric gasped when Harry finally managed to curl his palm around him properly. “Do you think you can handle that... yet?” A soft moan escaped his open mouth as his head dropped back, and Harry bit his lips as he stared in awe at a sight he’d dreamed of hundreds of times. 

“Yes, Cedric, please,” he urged. When Cedric opened his unfocussed eyes and met his, he nodded, “Oh yes.”

Cedric took a deep breath. He lifted Harry’s hips a little, his palms sliding under him, and murmured a spell.

Harry felt slick warmth, and he knew Cedric was easing the way.

“It’ll hurt less that way, and in the warm water,” he reassured him.

Harry nodded. He swallowed and confessed, “I can’t wait.”

“No more waiting,” Cedric promised, slowly lowering Harry back down, tilting his hips at a slight angle, until he felt himself just nudging his opening. “Relax,” he coaxed. “Open up to me, Harry, I’m going to make you feel so good.”

Whimpering, Harry half closed his eyes, bit his bottom lip, and allowed Cedric to slide inside. It was slow, gentle, careful... and it hardly hurt at all before it suddenly began to feel as if every nerve in his body was there, right there, reacting to Cedric inside him. God, he was inside him, sliding deeper and deeper! He whimpered, amazed he was beginning to harden again already.

“Does it hurt?” Cedric asked, halting.

“No,” Harry gasped, smiling, his eyes fully open again, and Cedric’s flushed cheeks, parted lips and feverish eyes took his breath away. “Finally,” he managed, and the word turned into a deep moan when Cedric pushed him up slightly and let him sink down again. And again. And again. Water splashed around them and over the edge of the pool.

Harry was clutching at Cedric’s shoulders, but now he was just holding on, no longer making sure Cedric was real - flesh and blood. He... this... could be nothing else.

“Not long,” Cedric warned, his breathing a series of short, uneven puffs.

“No more waiting,” Harry reminded him.

Their eyes met, Cedric nodded, and with a few more deep thrusts, reached his climax. He felt Harry spasm around him, heard him cry out, and he knew Harry had come again. He held him tight while they both relaxed again. With his face in the crook of Harry’s neck, he murmured with a smile against his damp skin, “Welcome home.”

Harry grinned and hugged him tight. “I love you, Cedric.”

“Love you too, Harry, so much.”

Harry sighed and remained exactly as he was, clinging to Cedric. He might have dozed for a little while, exhausted and overwhelmed as he was, because after what seemed like a very short time, Cedric nudged the side of his head with his nose. 

“Hey sleepyhead, aren’t you wondering when you’re getting my birthday gift?”

Harry smiled against Cedric’s skin. “That wasn’t it?”

“Hm... part of it,” Cedric admitted. “But there’s more.” He shifted them just enough so he could look into Harry’s eyes. “Shall I get it?”

Harry nodded eagerly, though he couldn’t imagine a better gift than this. He was placed gently on the ledge in the pool while Cedric stood and left the water to walk across to the heap of discarded clothes. Harry gulped; Cedric’s nude, wet body was breathtaking. He told him so.

Grinning back at him, Cedric crouched down to fumble in his trouser pocket, and returned with his right hand in a fist. Harry watched his every move as he settled back into the warmth beside him, turned to face him. “I bought this the day after you left, and I’ve been waiting to give it to you all this time.”

Harry looked at Cedric with a smile. “What is it?”

“It comes with a question. You’ll know what it is when you see it.”

It took only a moment or two before Harry’s eyes widened and he stared at Cedric with his mouth open. His heart was pounding and he felt as if a swarm of bees had taken up residence in his stomach. When he saw the slightly nervous smile, he dropped his gaze to Cedric’s hand, which was now opening. In his palm lay a gold ring decorated around its entire rim with the figure eight symbol for infinity.

“Cedric...”

“I love you, Harry,” Cedric said softly. “I’ve loved you every moment we’ve spent together, and all the time we were apart. I love everything about you – your courage, your loyalty and your tenderness. I love you for saving my life, yet I know if it had cost your own to do so, I could not have kept on living a single day.” Harry had been biting his lips, staring at the ring in amazement. At those last words, he looked up again, the lingering pain of Cedric’s temporary death still showing in his expressive eyes; it gave Cedric the courage to say the words he’d been wanting to say for so long. “Harry, I made you a promise once, do you remember?” When Harry nodded, he went on. “I promised that we would have a long time ahead of us. You helped me keep that promise, and I want to repay you by never letting anything part us again. Will you bond with me?”

Tears were swimming in Harry’s eyes as he nodded, incapable of speech. As soon as Cedric had slipped the ring on his left ring finger, he flung his arms around his neck and held him close.

Cedric returned the wet embrace with a smile against the side of Harry’s neck. A smile which widened with Harry’s sobbed, “Oh yes, Cedric, yes!”

And Cedric went on to keep his promise, soon wiping out even the memory of those two years during which time had stood still.

 

THE END


End file.
